Charlie Brown TV Specials Back After America Sighs ‘Good Grief!’

ACROSS AMERICA — Americans can let out a collective sigh of relief: Charlie Brown and the “Peanuts” gang are coming back to our living rooms.

With news this fall that the animated holiday iterations of Charles M. Schulz’s beloved comic strip wouldn’t air on network TV, Americans ached with the same betrayal and despair as the hapless Charlie Brown every time fussbudget Lucy Van Pelt pulled away the football.

The “Peanuts” holiday specials — “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” — have aired on broadcast television since the 1960s.

Not this year, said Apple TV+, which acquired the rights to the series in 2018. The Halloween special was available to Americans willing to pay the subscription fee on the streaming platform, and the Thanksgiving and Christmas specials were destined for similar exclusivity — the antithesis of all Schulz sought to accomplish with a comic strip that connected Americans in ways others couldn't.

Not this year! America sighed. Don’t take it away from us! Good grief, Charlie Brown, 2020 has taken enough!

"Peanuts" fans grumbled.

And grumbled.

And grumbled some more.

“The point of having them on network TV is the country coming together and watching at the same time,” a crestfallen Twitter user wrote after Apple's announcement. “That’s being taken from us. The Peanuts specials are one of the FEW things that brings US together.”

Another Twitter user lamented that the decision “means future generations may grow up without the sweet, wholesome entertainment that’s become every bit an American cultural tradition.”

Their angst was palpable.

Thousands of signatures were gathered on online petitions.

A bruised Apple responded Wednesday, saying it had teamed with PBS for advertising-free broadcasts of the Thanksgiving special this Sunday and the Christmas special on Sunday, Dec. 13.

Additionally, both will also be available for free on Apple TV+ — Nov. 25-27 for “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” and Dec. 11-13 for “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

Subscribers can access “Thanksgiving” now and “Christmas” beginning Dec. 4.

Some were quick with their vindication.

“Thank you so much!” one person wrote on Twitter. “I think techie people sometimes don’t think about the tradition and sentimentality of family sitting together around a tv. This is very appreciated.”

Others were a bit more cautious.

“Glad you all made a better decision,” one person wrote on Twitter. “This is an American staple and All children really should have access to it. Some things are worth more than a buck or two.

“I sincerely hope this never happens again,” the user continued, adding, “it was infuriating.”

But for others, it’s too soon.